Mariners – 3 takeaways from series split with the Padres

The Mariners manage to take one game from a tough Padres club and they slightly close the gap on the Astros, but what stood out most?

Of late, every time you think the Seattle Mariners are out of it, they find a way to give their fans hope. Then each occasion when you believe they’re back in the playoff race, they seem to lose momentum.

For a franchise which has historically been as frustrating as the Mariners, this season might take the biscuit. Regardless, they managed to get a series split in their two-game set versus a very strong San Diego Padres club and maintain the chance of a postseason spot.

Entering Thursday’s slate of action, the Mariners find themselves 3.5 games behind the Houston Astros at the top of the division. In addition, they are also 4.0 games out of the third and final AL wild card spot.

This all sounds promising, except for the harsh truth that time is running out. With a record of 74-72, the Mariners have just 16 games remaining to make the unlikely somehow become a reality.

With all this said, let’s take a last look at the Padres series, where the Mariners lost the opener 7-3 and then took the second game 5-2. Here are our three main takeaways from the two games:

1) George Kirby just isn’t his usual self

Something just isn’t right with George Kirby right now. At the time of writing, he is projected to set several career worsts with a 3.77 ERA and 3.40 FIP, while having already recorded a single-season high of 11 losses.

This season had started so well for Kirby, with him seemingly on course to set single season bests in a number of categories. The turning point however, was clearly the devastating 15-1 loss to the Detroit Tigers in mid-August.

That start saw the 2023 MLB All-Star and Cy Young contender for this year last just 3.2 innings. He had career worsts of 12 hits and 11 runs, while the six earned runs were the second-most of his three-year Major League career.

That shellacking included allowing three home runs, and Kirby has now conceded 11 in his past seven starts. For some context, consider that prior to this he had only given up two homers in his previous 12 games combined.

The struggles continued for the 26-year-old on Tuesday night, at home to the Padres. Things had started off well enough through two innings, before he allowed a three-run blast in the top of the third to turn a 2-0 Mariners lead into a 3-2 deficit.

Kirby would then give up another two-run homer in the top of the sixth, to make it 5-2 to the Padres and end his day. He officially went 5.0 innings, in the process allowing seven hits and the aforementioned five earned runs.

The righty is the ultimate competitor, and he never makes any excuses. It was no different when speaking after the 7-3 loss about his outing, as he said:

“It really came down to three pitches that I missed and five runs on the board. A team like that, I’ve just got to be more fine. They don’t swing and miss a ton. So I’ve just got to (throw) really quality strikes in the zone.”

Kirby went on to offer an insight into his struggles, both against the Padres specifically but in general of late. He said:

“That’s the frustrating part. Like, I know exactly what I’ve got to do. It’s just just one little pitch here and there. It’s not going my way.”

2) Cal Raleigh keeps on raking for Mariners

It’s undoubtedly been a tough season for fans, when it comes to watching a Mariners lineup which has massively underperformed. At the time of writing they are last in batting average, third-worst in slugging percentage and — most importantly — just 24th in runs scored.

With all this in mind, Cal Raleigh has been one of the few bright spots in the lineup during 2024. This includes leading all Mariners players in RBI, home runs and WAR.

In the series opener versus the Padres, Raleigh took his exploits to new levels, when he hit a solo blast to give the Mariners an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. It also represented his 30th homer of the season, which was special for a couple of reasons.

First, because the 27-year-old became just the 12th catcher in Major League history to log multiple 30+ home run seasons. He is also the first catcher since Mike Piazza back in 2002, to hit 30 bombs in consecutive seasons.

On the subject of Piazza, Raleigh now moves into second place behind the Hall of Famer, with the most home runs by a catcher through his first four seasons in the Majors. For what it’s worth, he’s just three behind, with 89 compared to 92 by the former New York Mets star.

One final thing to note which comes closer to home, Raleigh also edged one ahead of his manager Dan Wilson, for the second most home runs by a catcher in Mariners history. Mike Zunino currently leads the way with 95, meaning Raleigh is well on course to overtake him early next year. (Unless he goes on an absolute tear during the conclusion of this regular season.)

Just for good measures, the 2018 third round draft pick added another RBI on Wednesday night and now has 92 on the season. The Mariners are extremely fortunate to have him on their ball club and by rights should do whatever it takes, to get him signed up for the long-term in Seattle.

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3) Bryan Woo tries his best to be perfect

Entering Wednesday night’s outing, Bryan Woo had a 4-0 record and 1.50 ERA in seven starts this year at T-Mobile Park. As such, there was always the strong possibility he would put on a good show.

However, no one could have predicted just how good Woo would be in his first ever start versus the Padres. In fact he was on course for something special, pitching a perfect game throw six innings and never going to a three-ball count.

The 24-year-old’s bid for perfection finally ended with one out in the seventh inning, after a solo bomb from Fernando Tatis Jr. He then gave up a double and a walk versus two of the next three batters he faced, to end his day.

Woo’s final stat line saw him go 6.2 innings, in the process allowing two hits, a walk and two earned runs. He also struck out five and had 62 called strikes on his 89 pitches, and left the game to a well-deserved rapturous applause from the 21,129 fans in attendance.

Interestingly, the righty wasn’t particularly confident while warming up for his start. Speaking to the media afterwards, he said:

“I didn’t feel great in catch. I didn’t feel great in the bullpen, just kind of all over the place. And then you get out there and it just clicks.”

However, once the game started Woo knew he was cooking, and was ultimately frustrated with the way his outing ended. He said:

“You know what you’re doing is special, if you just kind of stay in the moment. And credit to them. I mean, they put some good swings on some good pitches and it is what it is. It’s more just me wanting to finish the job, at least finish that inning.”

With his injury issues now seemingly well in the rear-view mirror, Woo has been excellent – which is saying something with this Mariners rotation. In this respect, consider he has the best winning percentage (8-2 for .800 percent), lowest ERA (2.38) and best WHIP (0.823) of the five main starters, albeit having played a third-less games.

Woo’s manager was extremely impressed with what the young pitcher achieved versus a lineup which is sixth in the Majors in scoring. Wilson said:

“That’s a good offensive team. I think what they do offensively is difficult. After the first and second inning, you could tell something special was happening. He really had good stuff from the swings they were taking early on. You could tell that his ball had a little extra life, and his secondary stuff, I thought was excellent as well.”

What was your main takeaway from the Padres series? As a whole, how does it impact your thoughts on the Mariners’ ongoing quest for a playoff spot? Let us know in the comments section below.